September 23, 2019

White Dog knew right where to look for her walk partner when it was time to leash up. 

Roman has been struggling of late and WD is sensitive to his swinging moods; she understands that the slightest wrinkle in routine is enough to awaken his fear and sometimes his demons.

Last week Dr. Julia want us to bring him in so that she could do a biopsy on his skin issues that antibiotics seem unsuccessful at clearing up. Given Roman's issues, the plan was to bring him in and sedate him to do the work but we never even got out of the house. He sensed the change and refused to the point of charging Steve in a PTSD episode. The minute Steve put away the leash and cancelled the appointment, Roman was fine. For two days after he would not even allow the leash for bedtime walks. Dr. Julia has once again shuffled his meds and prescribed a new calming medication. We will try again in a few weeks.

Roman and Tizenegy both find the seasonal weather and light changes disorienting. Tiz has horrible allergies and his brother senses all of the fine nuances of heading into Autumn. Both are crabby and ill-behaved.

We are in a cycle of evening storms that are often loud and filled with force. Walks have been cancelled a couple of nights; others, walks have hurriedly been squeezed in between fronts moving through. Several of the WDA are storm-phobic including Roman. "Can you blame him," White Dog defends, "he lived outside during them for months and let's not even mention the hurricane."

As we now ease into the season of changing leaves, Balloon Fiesta, and lie in the sun cooler temps, White Dog believes that Roman will be able to refind his balance. I hate to see My Boy work so hard to just be "normal," but try he does.  I can see it in his self checking attempts and feel his heart wrestling with demons. 

And like White Dog, I, too, believe in Roman's abilities with love and guidance to find his way straight again.